By James Day The Silverton Senior Center is down but not out. The group’s building on Westfield Street is out of commission because of a plumbing disaster that occurred during the January ice storm. The center, however, has been able to keep most of its programs rolling along by using other sites: aerobics, line dancing and gentle yoga at Immanuel […]
By Melissa Wagoner When first grader Miriam Case attended the opening night of the Children’s Art Show hosted by the Silverton Art Association on April 5, she couldn’t believe her eyes. Her drawing of a mermaid had been awarded third place for her age division. “I just thought it would be in the gallery,” Case said. “But I won a […]
By Melissa Wagoner When Alan Mickelson joined forces with Lawrence Stone, Greg Hart, Gregg Sheesley and Ron Nelson to put on the very first Silverton Sidewalk Shindig in 2012, he never could have predicted that 12 years later the event would still be going strong or that the organization would be the recipient of the Silverton Chamber of Commerce’s Service […]
100 months for DUII fatality A Silverton man has been sentenced to more than eight years in prison for a DUII collision last year that killed a Keizer teenager. Gustavo Sosa, 27, pleaded guilty Feb. 1 in Marion County Circuit Court to second-degree manslaughter and hit-and-run for the May 23, 2023, death of Victor Andre Cortez-Andrade, 16. He also pleaded […]
By James Day The Silverton Senior Center was heavily damaged during the recent ice storm and is currently closed until repairs can be made. Board President Jenny Ohren told Our Town that when officials returned to the Center on Jan. 18, after being closed during the ice event, “broken pipes in the attic” led to the collapse of a ceiling because […]
The Silverton City Council is heading toward a decision that will mean more housing than previously planned for a property on Eureka Avenue just east of The Oregon Garden. Developers already had received approval to build up to 42 units on the 5.15-acre property, which was zoned R-1 or single-family residential. During a public hearing at the council’s Dec. 4 […]
By James Day The 30th anniversary edition of Silverton’s Community Picnic is set for Friday, Aug. 25. Events for the 5 to 8 p.m. soiree will be held in Coolidge McClaine Park and the Silverton Community Pool. “It’s just a great time to get together,”said Dodie Brockamp, executive director of the Silverton Senior Center, the lead organizer for the event. […]
By Melissa Wagoner Autumn Kuenzi has battled depression and anxiety her entire life, but when her first child was born eight years ago, that battle raged at a whole new level. “I got postpartum depression and anxiety,” Kuenzi recalled. “And I just couldn’t sit with it. So, I made the decision to take control of it.” Which meant, along with […]
The first Silver Falls Film Festival is set for Friday, Aug. 18 during the Silverton Arts Festival. A series of short movies will be shown outdoors at Coolidge McClaine Park as the kickoff for the festival, which continues Aug. 19-20. More than 600 entries from around the world have been submitted, said Mike Turner, Silverton filmmaker and Silverton Arts Association […]
By Naiya Brown Put it on your calendar: Saturday, May 20, is THE day for pets in Silverton. The city, longtime home of the annual Silverton Pet Parade inspired by Bobbie the Wonder Dog, is adding the inaugural Paws in the Park event, which is meant to work in conjunction with the parade. Paws in the Park, sponsored by the […]
By James Day The City of Silverton began work on its 2023-24 budget amid a staff shakeup that has the City Council initiating a search for a new city manager. Ron Chandler, who took over the top administrative post in Silverton in May of 2021, is leaving effective May 12 and relocating to Utah. In an April 12 letter to […]
The Silverton Arts Festival is holding its annual contest that will produce the poster for the event, which is set for Aug. 19-20 at Coolidge McClaine Park. The contest is open to artists 16 and older, with the winner receiving either a 10′ x 10′ festival booth space, valued at $225, or $200 in cash, along with recognition in the […]
By Stephen Floyd The Silverton Police Department has arrested a Mount Angel man they claim was responsible for a vandalism spree that defaced multiple public facilities and local businesses. Roman L. Cunningham, 23, was arrested Dec. 20, 2022, on 24 felony counts of aggravated first-degree criminal mischief for incidents taking place within the prior month. Police said Cunningham repeatedly left […]
By Melissa Wagoner When Sheltering Silverton created the Children’s Lantern Parade in 2018, they wanted the event to be more than just another parade. “It’s about people lighting up the dark for their neighbors,” Sheltering Silverton founder Sarah White explained. Both those with homes and those without. “This is a way to remind [the unhoused], you’re not alone and you’re […]
By James Day Street trees and landscaping will be added to the skate park on Main Street to help buffer the popular recreation site from the rest of the neighborhood. At its Aug. 5 meeting the City Council agreed to plant seven trees and other landscaping in the planter strip on the skate park side of Main Street. The city […]
May 15-21 is National Public Works Week and the City of Silverton is celebrating by holding a free, interactive, hands-on fair at Coolidge-McClaine Park May 19, noon to 4 p.m. Participants will get a chance to check out a sander, street sweeper, snowplow and backhoe up close, look through a sewer camera, learn how water lines are connected plus see […]
By James Day The Silverton Runners Club is turning 40, and organizers are planning some new events to boost participation in the club, which works to support running programs in Silverton and Mount Angel. The club, which was organized in 1982 by Silverton resident Amy Castle, is taking over management of the 5-kilometer and 10-kilometer runs associated with the Mount […]
By Melissa Wagoner In 2019 Christy Davis attended a Repair Fair – an event put on by Marion County Environmental Services (MCES) in Salem that encouraged community members to bring broken items – those in danger of being thrown out – in order to have them repaired by an expert. “What I saw at the Repair Fair was awesome,” Davis […]
By Melissa Wagoner Affectionately known as “Homer Days,” the Homer Davenport Community Festival – held the first Friday through Sunday in August (the sixth through eighth this year) – is absolutely unique. An offshoot of the Silverton Arts Association’s, Family Festival of the Arts, held for the first timåe in 1980, the Homer Days festival is the only celebration in […]
By Brenna Wiegand Few will deny the fountain in Coolidge McClaine Park is a tad rundown. The current Ford Family Foundation Leadership program cohort aims to change that. The group’s leadership training culminates by carrying out a public service project. The class targeted the fountain. The foundation will match $5,000 to get the project started. “This project will enhance the […]
By Kathy Cook Hunter On Sunday, June 21 – Father’s Day – strawberry shortcake fans will observe a yearly tradition at Coolidge & McClaine Park in Silverton. Strawberry season doesn’t seem complete without attending the Strawberry Festival, where one can feast on strawberries, shortcake and ice cream. Since 1951, when the event began as a fundraiser for maintaining the Silverton […]
A project is under way to consider placing a Silverton neighborhood on the National Register of Historic Places. Heritage homes on Fiske, Coolidge and West Main streets have been proposed to become the Coolidge Neighborhood Historic District.
